English Dub Review: Banished from the Hero Party, I Decided to Live a Quiet Life in the Countryside: “Days of Peace and Ease”

Overview: Ruti (Tia Ballard) and Tisse (Jad Saxton) travel to Zoltan to free the prisoner, Godwin, for him to make more of the drug, Devil’s Blessing. 

Our Take: Red and Ruti’s days of ease are quite simply a roundabout way of putting Ruti back into the mix of Gideon’s life once again. It does this with the classic trope of close call reunions throughout with the brother and sister missing each other by a hair or, in Red’s case, getting to know her new companion in Tisse Garland, unbeknownst to him. Overall, the more Ruti longs to see Gideon, the more she also struggles with how to handle situations as a proper hero and how he would, the better the missed connections are as a result with them increasingly more nail-biting over the course of the episode. Not to mention, it also shows how she continues to the rough ordeals she wrestles with, in more ways than just emotionally, without Gideon by her side. It’s also smart how the narrative uses the Devil’s Blessing in a different way than it’s harmful intent and could be beneficial to Ruti and her constant struggle with her own blessing, or, potentially, one that presents its own new set of challenges. Being the first meaty introduction in terms of onscreen presence, Tisse manages to establish herself as a charming comedic relief with her awkward nervousness that she hides by projecting confidence. She already displayed exceptional assassination skills but Red’s shrewd deduction of her ability and vice versa with him, only better serve to express that. 

As Rit and Red increase their business during the cold winter months by helping out Zoltan with 15-hour hand warmers, the little moments the two find to be intimate in between make their relationship feel real and more satisfying because of it. A smell of a new threat also begins to fill the air as the archfay, Undine, is sickened from a magical drain by someone who is seemingly more powerful in Zoltan, someone who perhaps Rit may know by her subtle facial expression discovering this after the fact. Danan is a possible candidate that comes to mind, but doesn’t look to be reliant on or use any magical abilities so time will tell if it is him, someone else in the Hero party, or new entirely. This also comes just as Ruti and Tisse visit the local apothecary to find that it’s Gideon, the same man who Tisse was suspicious of, to kick off a heartwarming sibling reunion.